Making Connections: What GDNet has learned about using social media to raise the profile of Southern research

The GDNet program (the Global Development Network‘s Knowledge Service) came to an end in June 2014 after a decade working to increase the effectiveness of development research generated by southern research institutes and strengthen the capacity of researchers in developing countries to share and apply their knowledge for the purpose of development. In this publication, members of the GDNet team share experiences of using social media to engage with Southern researchers and support uptake of their research, reflecting on the many lessons they learnt along the way.

Zeinab Sabet (Research Communication Capacity Building Manager, GDNet) has worked for Amnesty International (EU Office) and the United United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). She holds a Master degree in Political and Social Sciences from "Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Strasbourg" and another in EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies from the College of Europe.

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Research to Action (R2A) is a website catering for the strategic and practical needs of people trying to improve the uptake of development research, in particular those funded by DFID.

We have structured the site and populated it with material that we think will be immediately useful to this audience, but also to development researchers in general who would like to be more strategic and effective in their communications.

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